Summary:
ZIP code 60076 has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: Old Orchard Junior High School and Oliver McCracken Middle School. In 2025–2026, both were above the state in math and eighth-grade science, while their ELA results differed sharply. The central finding for families is that McCracken’s all-grades ELA proficiency rate was 84%, compared with 54% at Old Orchard—a 30-point gap—and Old Orchard was 2 points below the state in ELA.
McCracken stands out for the strongest results across all three latest test categories: it led Old Orchard by 30 points in ELA, 2 in math and 3 in eighth-grade science. Old Orchard was not behind in every subject: its math rate of 49% was 9 points above the state, and its science rate of 64% was 12 points above. McCracken was 12 points above the state in math and 16 points above in science, as well as 28 points above in ELA. The schools’ subject profiles differ: Old Orchard’s results are closer across ELA and math, while McCracken’s ELA rate is much higher than its 51% math result.
Over the two years shown, the schools’ average ELA rate slipped from 72% to 69%, while the average math rate rose from 44% to 50% and eighth-grade science from 56% to 66%. Old Orchard’s ELA result fell 9 points as McCracken’s rose 4; both improved in math and science. SchoolDigger ranks McCracken at the 83rd percentile, 191 of 1,126 schools, with four stars; Old Orchard is at the 58th percentile, 472 of 1,126, with three stars. Other differences are context, not explanations: in 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible rates were 34% at McCracken and 58% at Old Orchard, and student-teacher ratios were 9.4 and 12.9, respectively. Because the area has only two schools, its averages reflect just these two sets of results.
Thank you for your feedback!